SEC: Nashville and the Sommet Center will host the 2013 Southeastern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. The winner of the 11-game tournament will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The tournament seeds and conference champion will be determined by the 14-game regular-season SEC schedule. The top four seeds earn a first-round bye.

The SEC Men's Basketball Tournament (sometimes known simply as the SEC Tournament) is the conference tournament in basketball for the Southeastern Conference (SEC). It is a single-elimination tournament that involves all leagueschools (currently 12). Its seeding is based on regular season records. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA men's basketball tournament, however the official conference championship is awarded to the team or teams with the best regular season record.

Throughout its history, the SEC Championship basketball game held at various sites, including the Georgia Dome, Louisiana Superdome,Bridgestone Arena, the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex, the Pyramid, Rupp Arena, Louisville Gardens and (in an emergency relocation) Alexander Memorial Coliseum at Georgia Tech.

From 1933-50, the SEC Champion was determined by a tournament, except for 1935. Beginning in 1951, a round-robin schedule was introduced and the SEC title was awarded to the team with the highest in-conference winning percentage. From 1951-64, the round-robin consisted of 14 games. In 1965 and 1966, it was expanded to 16 games. From 1967-91, the round-robin schedule was 18 games. In 1992, the SEC split into an Eastern and Western Division but continued to recognize an SEC Champion based on a winning percentage over the new 16-game conference schedule. The league also began awarding division championships. In 1979, the tournament was renewed with thewinner receiving the SEC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament,[2] but the official league champion remained the team with the best regular season record.